The Sense Of Taste: Gustation

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Senses are the brain’s capability to process information from the surrounding environment, commonly referred to as “perceiving.” It’s important to know that each sense is a system of sensory cells that corresponds to a particular region of the brain where signals are received and then interpreted. In humans, there are a variety of senses. Today, we are focusing on the sense of taste, otherwise known as “Gustation,” and how it’s affected by Sensory Processing Disorder.

Taste is the most basic sense refers to the detection of the chemicals that make up food. Taste is sometimes confused with flavor (flavor is actually your taste and your sense of smell working in conjunction with each other to form a perception). Taste is received through sensory organs such as the tongue, the papillae, taste buds, and the receptor cells.

When a food enters the mouth, during the digestion process, saliva is released and starts to break down the food moving the food into the tiny pores and grooves on the tongue where the receptor cells are located. The cells then determine whether the food fits into one of five tastes: sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami.

When your child suffers from sensory processing disorder they will have a hard time categorizing foods into their respective tastes. This might cause them to be extremely picky eaters. But there’s a difference between a picky eater and the potential to suffering from nutritional deficiencies due to limited food choices. Also, there are some who have the opposite problem and crave oral sensory input.

Here are some indicators that your child might have taste sensitivity or enjoy oral sensory input:

considered a very picky eater – gag at certain foods, only eat certain brands, become anxious when trying new foods